History of Wigan Warriors - Early 21st Century

Early 21st Century

Frank Endacott joined Wigan Warriors as head coach after the 1999 season and coached them until 2001, when he was sacked.

In 2000 Wigan finished top of the Super League and reached the Grand Final for the second time but this time lost to St Helens 29–16. Wigan reached the Grand Final again the year after but lost to Bradford Bulls 37–4 which is still the biggest winning margin in a Super League Grand Final. That year Andy Farrell also set a new club record for points in a season with 429. In 2002 Wigan won their 17th Challenge Cup when they beat St Helens 21–12 at Murrayfield Stadium, 8 years after previously lifting the cup.

Wigan coach Stuart Raper was sacked as head coach of the club on 29 July 2003 due to a lack of success. He was replaced by assistant coach Mike Gregory and the team improved and reached the Grand Final only to lose to Bradford Bulls 25–12. In 2004 Gregory guided Wigan to the Challenge Cup final at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff but Wigan lost to St Helens 32–16. It was Mike Gregory's last match as head coach of Wigan, he travelled to the United States of America to get treatment for an illness that he contracted after an insect bite while in Australia. It was revealed that Mike had motor neurone disease and he did not return as Wigan coach; he was not sacked but Wigan allowed his contract to expire. Mike felt that during 2004, he was able to return but the club blocked his return to work. Wigan also appointed Ian Millward as head coach. Wigan did not have the success they expected under Ian Millward and in 2006 Wigan were bottom of the league and facing relegation from Super League. Wigan sacked Millward and replaced him with Brian Noble. Brian Noble signed Michael Dobson. and signed Stuart Fielden from Bradford Bulls for a record fee of £450,000 Wigan avoided relegation in 2006 but still had problems with the salary cap which they had breached in 2005 and 2006. Some of the fans chose to blamed Wigan Chairman Maurice Lindsay for the lack of success and salary cap problems at the club, Wigan were fined and docked points for exceeding the salary cap by £222,314. In 2007 Maurice Lindsay announced that he would step down as Wigan Chairman at the end of 2007 and later that month Dave Whelan announced he would consider selling the club at the end of the season. Harlequins RL chairman and lifelong Wigan rugby league fan Ian Lenagan bought the club from Dave Whelan promising to start a new era at Wigan Warriors. Ian Lenagan officially took over as chairman and owner on 1 December 2007.

The 2007 season saw Wigan reach the Challenge Cup Semi-Final losing out to Catalans Dragons by 24–37.

During the 2007 season, Wigan would go onto reach the Final Eliminator of the Super League play-offs. However, the team lost that particular match by 36–6 against Leeds Rhinos. The same fixture at the same stage of the 2008 season took place with Wigan coming out losers on that occasion also against Leeds Rhinos by 18–14.

Wigan confirmed via the official website that they had been granted charitable status on Wednesday 29 April 2009. This involves the club receiving extra funding to provide rugby league related activities to young people throughout the North West of England.

Wigan confirmed in an official club statement on Tuesday 23 June 2009 that Gareth Hock tested positive for the primary metabolite of Cocaine; Benzoylecgonine, following an 'A' sample taken following a match vs Salford on Friday 5 June 2009. Wigan also confirmed that Gareth Hock faces a two-year ban, beginning June 2009, from the sport as sample 'B' came back positive. This is the first publicised incident of its kind in the club's history.

Wigan reached the Challenge Cup Semi-Final in 2009 losing out to Warrington Wolves by 26–39. The team also reached the Final Eliminator once again. This time, losing out to St.Helens by 14–10. Following that loss, Brian Noble, then head coach confirmed his departure. Michael Maguire was appointed new Head Coach on 7 October 2009.

In 2010, under the guidance of new head coach Michael Maguire, Wigan started the new season with a 38 to 6 win over the Crusaders. Wigan won their opening 4 games to take them to the top of the Super League table. Wigan remained top of the league throughout the season.

During 2010 the Wigan club won 3 pieces of silverware. These were the Floodlit 9s, League Leaders Shield (1st place after 27 rounds) and the Super League Grand Final.

On 2 October they won the Super League Grand Final, their first win since 1998, beating St. Helens 22–10.

The club also swept the boards at the annual Man of Steel Award, with Sam Tomkins winning young player of the year, Michael Maguire won the coach of the year award, Pat Richards won the Man of Steel award and the club won the club of the year award. On 6 August 2011, Wigan made it to the Challenge Cup final after beating St. Helens 18–12.

On 27 August 2011, Wigan Warriors won the Challenge Cup final against Leeds Rhinos at Wembley Stadium. The final score was Wigan 28–18 Leeds. The match was the first visit to Wembley for Wigan in 13 years.

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